Unfortunately, our sideways aspirations will be a tad hampered by the base engines. Renault's been pretty cagey with specifics, but it's hinted that they'll be more green than grunt, so expect 1.0-litre three-cylinders to feature heavily.

So, why rear-engined? It's been developed with Daimler and it'll appear with different bodywork but pretty much identical underpinnings as the upcoming Smart ForFour and ForTwo. Which explains the conspicuously radical bum-engined layout for Renault (not counting its past form with the Clio V6 and 5 Turbo).

Renault also notes that the layout improves the turning circle and, combined with the use of a smaller block and positioning the wheels at the car's extremities, frees up extra cabin space.

The Twingo also follows in the infuriating wake of pretty much every small non-Dacia on sale at the moment, with Renault offering the full gamut of salary-munching personalisation options. It includes a colour chart like regurgitated dolly mixture, many meaningless decals, and with it the opportunity to obliterate its resale value before it's turned a wheel. But still no tuning parts.

Still, looks good though, doesn't it? And if you want an RS version, may we humbly point you to the comments section below...